Shell-shocked Wis. readies for recall

MILWAUKEE — When Wisconsin voters head to the polls Tuesday for the historic gubernatorial recall, it will mark their seventh election in the past 14 months.

That’s right — seventh.

Story Continued Below

A bitterly contested state Supreme Court race in April 2011 — when incumbent Justice David Prosser narrowly survived a recount — was followed by a state Senate recall primary and general elections through the summer, municipal voting in February, the presidential primary in April and more recall primaries on May 8, including one for governor.

If there’s any state that epitomizes what the permanent campaign feels like, it’s this one. Wisconsin voters essentially have been asked to cast ballots every 60 days for more than a year, and they’ve been exposed to a relentless barrage of television and radio advertisements, mailers, phone calls, yard signs, stump speeches and debates.

All told, close to $110 million in political advertising has been spent through May 21, according to Mike McCabe of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which tracks such spending, and it’s left residents with a bad case of election fatigue.

“And that leaves a good three weeks of spending not accounted for yet,” McCabe cautioned. “Just a ton of money for a relatively small state. Insane.”

Retiree Alice Sura couldn’t even escape it by leaving her house to enjoy a local festival in West Allis. Sitting under a cooling tent to listen to a local musical performer, she was approached by Democrat Tom Barrett, the Milwaukee mayor running for governor who was seeking hands to shake on a blazing recent afternoon.

“It’s crazy. I think it’s a big waste of money. I don’t even want to watch TV anymore,” complained Sura. “And then when this is over, it’ll be the presidential.”

Voters aren’t the only ones feeling a bit shell-shocked.

“I think there’s fatigue amongst election administrators. It’s been a lot. It just seems we’ve been in election mode since the fall of 2009; it just doesn’t stop. We just keep moving along. We have no choice in the matter,” said Sue Edman, executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, who kept the municipal building open Memorial Day weekend to accommodate early voting.

Still, despite the occasional complaints from fed-up voters, the state isn’t showing many signs of apathy ahead of the biggest race of all — the attempted recall of GOP Gov. Scott Walker.

As of Friday, more than 182,000 absentee ballots had been issued, and Wisconsin election officials were forecasting a turnout rate of 65 percent — between 2.6 million to 2.8 million voters. That’s on pace to easily top the nearly 2.2 million who showed up during the 2010 midterm.

So if people are angry, they’re poised to release their frustration at the polls.

“I think people are sick of it, but I think people are totally paying attention to it,” said Walker in an interview with POLITICO. “Wisconsin has very well informed voters, even more informed this time.”